The Tampa Bay metro area posted the 26th biggest job growth rate in the advanced industries sector among the country’s 100 largest metro areas from 2013 to 2015, based on a study by The Brookings Institution.
What are advanced industries? These are high-value innovation and technology industries that are vital to the broadly shared prosperity of a metro area. They consist of at least 50 industries in STEM and R&D (science, technology, engineering and mathematics and research and development). In 2015, the average total compensation in advanced industries was $95,000, almost double the average total compensation in other industries, which was $53,000.
With a growth rate of 3.71%, the Tampa Bay metro area posted 1.25 more percentage points than the U.S. average growth rate of 2.46%.
Here are the 30 fastest growing metro areas in advanced industries from 2013 to 2015:
| RANK | METRO AREA | ANNUAL JOB GROWTH RATE |
| 2013-2015 | ||
| U.S. | 2.5% | |
| 1 | Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee | 7.9% |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California | 7.9% |
| 3 | Jackson, Mississippi | 7.6% |
| 4 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida | 7.6% |
| 5 | Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas | 7.2% |
| 6 | Raleigh, North Carolina | 7.0% |
| 7 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina-South Carolina | 6.7% |
| 8 | Memphis,Tennessee/Mississippi/Arkansas | 6.3% |
| 9 | Toledo, Ohio | 6.3% |
| 10 | Provo-Orem, Utah | 6.3% |
| 11 | Madison, Wisconsin | 6.0% |
| 12 | Austin-Round Rock, Texas | 6.0% |
| 13 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California | 5.9% |
| 14 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan | 5.5% |
| 15 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas | 5.4% |
| 16 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida | 5.0% |
| 17 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia | 4.5% |
| 18 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida | 4.5% |
| 19 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan | 4.3% |
| 20 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Indiana | 4.3% |
| 21 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado | 4.3% |
| 22 | Jacksonville, Florida | 4.1% |
| 23 | Akron, Ohio | 4.0% |
| 24 | Worcester, Massachusetts-Connecticut | 3.8% |
| 25 | Ogden-Clearfield, Utah | 3.7% |
| 26 | TAMPA-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida | 3.7% |
| 27 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach,Florida | 3.7% |
| 28 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Oregon-Washington | 3.6% |
| 29 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida | 3.6% |
| 30 | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | 3.5% |
In the TAMPA-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, the five advanced industries below were the best-performing in 2015, based on number of jobs and share of all jobs in the metro area in 2015.
| Rank | Advanced Industries | Number of Jobs | Share of All Advanced Industries Jobs |
| 1 | Management, Scientific and | 18,963 | 18.4% |
| Technical Consulting Services | |||
| 2 | Computer Systems Design | 17,166 | 16.7% |
| and Related Services | |||
| 3 | Architectural, Engineering | 13,669 | 13.3% |
| and Related Services | |||
| 4 | Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories | 4,949 | 4.8% |
| 5 | Medical Equipment and | 4,918 | 4.8% |
| Supplies Manufacturing |
All in all, there were a total of 102,974 jobs in advanced industries in the Tampa Bay area in 2015, putting the metro area 26th among the 100 largest metro areas in the country. These jobs accounted for 8.1% of all jobs in the metro area, putting the Tampa metro area 56th among the 100 largest metro areas.